Farewell Roger Bannister

Last week the sad news of Roger Bannister’s passing reached the Synergy Health office. A man who had no trouble practising our healthy habits number 4, ‘Move Quickly Once in a While’ and number 9 ‘Manage Your Thinking’.

For many years it was believed that the human body was incapable of running a mile in under four minutes. Not only was it considered to be unreachable, but according to physiologists of the time, it was considered dangerous to the health of any athlete who attempted to reach it.

Roger Bannister was the first runner to break the ‘mythical’ 4-minute barrier. Assisted by two pacemakers, Bannister clocked 3 minutes, 59.4 seconds over four laps at Oxford's Iffley Road track on 6 May 1954. As part of his training, he relentlessly visualised the achievement in order to create a sense of certainty in his mind and body.

Less well known is what happened following Bannister’s ‘miracle mile’.

Once Bannister had removed the psychological barrier for other athletes, the door was opened for others to reach this goal also. Just 46 days after Bannister had set the new 3 minute 59.4 second record; John Landy broke it in Turku, Finland and many more followed suit. Today there are thousands of people who have run a mile in under four minutes.

We ask you, how often do you base your expectations on what others have achieved? How often do you hold yourself back from achieving your full potential due to the disbelief that you can do more? Do your thought patterns limit your capability?

A key component of helping employees to follow our ‘Manage Your Thinking’ healthy habit is to provide them with the tools and resources to identify their totally unconscious habits of thought which may be holding them back, and stopping them reaching their full potential. Bannister is an excellent example of the demonstration that a healthy mind can lead to fabulous achievements.